Larry’s List: West Point Hangover Edition

Posted on Dec 2, 2009

Every day, Truthdig brings you the news items and other odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

We’ll continue to update this entry with new items as Larry sends them to us, with the newest links on top.

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Annals of cosmetic surgery, terminal division
A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina has died from complications after undergoing cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.

AOL’s Latest Dumb Business Plan
During the last few weeks, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong has unveiled a series of plans to save the long-suffering company from its lurch into irrelevance.

The cover Golf Digest probably wishes they could have a do-over
Tiger Woods is being called a sext-happy philanderer by the National Enquirer, is getting hounded by the Florida Highway Patrol, and is facing the possibility that his wife could go to jail for domestic abuse. On the plus side, Woods made the cover of the upcoming issue of Golf Digest.

Canadian Government Rocked by Accusations of Abuse, Torture of Afghan Prisoners
The Canadian government’s war effort in Afghanistan has been shaken by new accusations that Afghans detained by Canadian forces were tortured and abused. The charges were made by Richard Colvin, a highly placed diplomat in the Canadian embassy in Kabul during 2005-07, the years when Canada escalated its military role in Afghanistan.

Digital Reconstruction of Leonardo’s ‘Last Supper’
More than 500 years after Leonardo da Vinci painted “The Last Supper,” Leonardo3, a media company based out of Milan, has digitally reconstructed Da Vinci’s masterpiece.

Phone Box Has New Life as Library
A traditional red phone box has been recycled into one of the country’s smallest lending libraries—stocking 100 books.

The World Looks Different If You’re Depressed
Depression really does change the way you see the world. People with the condition find it easy to interpret large images or scenes, but struggle to “spot the difference” in fine detail.

Thou Shalt Not Wear a Corduroy Skirt
Gay-bashing woman humiliated for wearing hideous skirt.

Milestones in Law Enforcement
Note to law enforcement personnel: If you arrest a suspect for bank robbery, and you find the stickup note in his pocket, don’t put the note on the car near the suspect.

Why Do Mainstream Media Suck Up to Pastor Rick Warren?
On “Meet the Press,” David Gregory never asked about Warren’s tacit support for Uganda’s gay-execution law or challenged Warren’s description of abortion as a “holocaust.”

The Swiss and the Muslims
The Swiss, known for cheese, Alps, watches, chocolate, and secret bank accounts, at least two of which are full of holes, have now added a sixth important product: intolerance.

Welcome to the Women’s Movement 2.0
No group with a major stake in health care reform has seen as many peaks and valleys this year as women’s health activists.

Here We Go Again
It is already a 30-year war begun by one Democratic president, and thanks to the political opportunism of the current commander in chief the Afghanistan war is still without end or logical purpose.

This Week on Vanguard: Remote Control War
In this episode, Vanguard journalist Kaj Larsen explores the latest technologies used to keep pace with an evolving battlefield, including a virtual reality recruiting center the U.S. Army is using to attract a new breed of tech-savvy soldiers via video-game-inspired tutorials.

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